Scanner-Assisted Selection of Fitting Footwear with Individualized Footbed

ABSTRACT

A method is described for selecting, in a cost-effective and largely automated manner, best fit footwear with an optimally selected or individualized footbed. With the aid of a preferably multisensory foot scanner, the geometric three-dimensional shape of the foot and the plantar pressure image registered with it are determined at the same time. A database of digitized shoe interiors is used for determining, by means of a best fit selection, the series-produced shoe that best matches the 3D foot model. Using a conventional system for producing individualized insoles and/or footbeds, an insole that matches the sole of the foot is selected or prepared and, in a further, novel method step according to the invention, by means of numerical determination of the three-dimensional surfaces of the footbed, the foot sole and the peripheral zone of the sole in the inner shoe, the so-called insole space, the required insole constituting the footbed is selected, or further processed numerically, such that it fits in an optimum manner into the selected best fit item of footwear in the put-on condition.

Supplying customers with well-fitting footwear in a cost-effectivemanner has been a problem that has, to date, been only insufficientlysolved by the shoe trade which still is not very optimized in terms ofmetrology, whether in the area of dress shoes or casual shoes, sportsshoes, orthopedic shoes or special shoes such as, e.g., safety shoes.

Selecting an item of footwear which fits best from a catalog ofavailable products is often referred to as “best fit” selection. Theproduction of individually made shoes, on the other hand, is referred toas “customization”. It goes without saying that a “best fit” solutionis, as a rule, considerably more reasonably priced than an individualcustomization.

The subject matter of the present application relates to methods andarrangements for putting to practice a cost-effective supply of thecustomer with best-fit footwear which also comprises an individuallycustomized or best-fit type selected footbed.

The efforts that have been made so far to produce customized footwear orbest-fit footwear at low cost have, in most cases, failed to take therole of a fitting footbed into consideration. With regard to the correctfit and the functionality of a shoe, the footbed or an insole, however,plays at least as significant a role as the fit of the shoe upper andconstitutes a commonly used option for an individual optimization offootwear.

To this end, either series-produced or customized insoles are used whichare selected for an individual foot (best fit insoles) or are speciallymade (customized insoles).

Known methods for this include, among others,

for the selection of a series-produced insole:

by an expert or by the wearer of the shoe himself/herself

by an analysis and proposal system, e.g., a 2D flatbed scanner fordetermining the contour of the foot sole and a corresponding expertsystem which generates a proposal (http://www.boot-doc.com/),

for the production of individual insoles:

the customer's foot sole is molded with the aid of a foot impressionfoam, a plaster cast or a vacuum cushion and, on this basis, an insoleis produced manually or in a partly automated manner(http://www.conform-able.com,http://www.fussgesundheit.info/abdruck.htm),

the customer's foot sole is determined as a 2D contour using a flatbedscanner

and, based thereon, a CAD/CAM milling machine is controlled by means ofan interactive computing program,

the milling machine producing an individual pair of insoles from a blank(see, e.g., www.josamerica.com, System Ortho Scan Organizer),

the 3D shape of the foot inclusive of the foot sole is determined usinga 3D scanner (see, e.g., www.vorum.com; System Can Fit-Plus Yeti orhttp://www.pedcad.de),

the pressure image, i.e. the local distribution of the load on the footsole is recorded using a pressure image sensor with a high localresolution (see, e.g., www.bauerfeind.com; MediLogic® foot pressuremeasuring system).

On the basis of this data, manual or semi-automated processes are usedfor selecting or producing an individual insole that matches each foot.

The insoles selected or prepared based on the foot sole information(e.g., 2D image of the foot sole or 2D pressure distribution) are,however, not yet adjusted to a selected item of footwear since the spacecoordinates of the inner shoe that are required for the definition ofthe outer peripheral zone of the footbed are not determined by theseinsole production technologies and are not made use of, either. Due tothe lack of spatial information between the foot, the insole and theinner shoe, it is not possible on the basis of the known methods toautomatically produce or suitably select an insole not only with respectto the surface thereof that is in contact with the foot sole of thecustomer, but also with respect to its extent and its surfaces incontact with the customer's shoe.

The company of corpus.e AG, Stuttgart, Germany (www.corpus-e.com) hasdeveloped a particularly cost-effective photogrammetric 3D foot scannerunder the designation “Lightbeam®”, which simultaneously and fullyautomatically digitizes those areas of the human foot which are visiblefrom above and from the side (see Rutschmann, U.S. Pat. No. 7,433,502B2, “Three-dimensional digitized capturing of the shape bodies and bodyparts using mechanically positioned imaging sensors”) and, at the sametime, measures the pressure image of the foot sole by means of a locallyresolving pressure sensor installed in the foot scanner (see Rutschmannet al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,489,813 B2, “Method and System for Detecting theThree-Dimensional Shape of an Object”.

Since both measuring methods are mechanically rigidly combined in thephotogrammetrically marked platform on which the customer stands duringthe scanning process, this “Lightbeam®” scanner provides a combined datarecord: the geometric 3D model of the foot and, at the same time, thepressure image of the foot sole. Due to this installation, both datarecords are compulsorily registered (aligned with each other) andgenerate a so-called “multisensory” data record. As is shown in FIG. 2for a better illustration of the prior art, the geometric 3D shape -11-and the physical plantar pressure image -21- are blended into one singlenumerical model. Using this scanner technology, the position of the footsole (based on the pressure image) in relation to the spatial foot model(as determined by the photogrammetric 3D foot scanner) is thereforeknown individually for each customer and separately for each foot.

corpus.e AG has furthermore developed a cost-effective technology fordigitizing the interior space of series-produced shoes (see Pfeiffer andRutschmann, DE 2007 032 609 A2, “Kostengünstige Erfassung der innerenRaumform von Fuβbekleidung and Körpern” [Cost-effective detection of thethree-dimensional inside shape of footwear and bodies]; Massen, U.S.Pat. No. 7,446,884 B2, “Method for optically detecting the spatial formof inside spaces and a device for carrying out said method”. Basedthereon, a numerical 3D model of the interior of a fabricated shoe canbe established, i.e. of an interior the shape of which matches theanatomical shape of the foot considerably better than a last that ismanufactured from the aspects of production engineering and is requiredfor the production of the footwear.

Moreover, corpus.e AG has developed a novel strategy of the so-called“best fit” selection, which is based on the comparison of the numerical3D model of the foot of a customer as determined by the 3D foot scannerwith the 3D models of the interior spaces of available,series-manufactured footwear as stored in a database (see: RobertMassen, “Kostengünstige und kalibrierungsfreie 3D Digitalisierung vonBeinen, Füssen und Schuh-Innenräumen für orthopädische und normaleFuβbekleidung” [cost-effective and calibration-free 3D digitization oflegs, feet and shoe interiors for orthopedic and standard footwear],satellite symposium on the occasion of the Orthopädie+Reha-Technik tradefair, Leipzig, Germany 2008, Kongress 28 Fortbildung TechnischeOrthopädie und Biomechanik: 3D-Vermessung und Analyse in der TechnischenOrthopädie, Vortragsgruppe “Stumpf und Schaft, CAD/CAM” [congress 28,advanced training in technical orthopedics and biomechanics: 3Dmeasurement and analysis in technical orthopedics, “stump and shaft,CAD/CAM” lecture group].

Owing to this novel approach of adapting the numerical 3D model of thecustomer's foot to the numerical three-dimensional interiors of theseries-produced shoes that come into question, the previous,problematical, adaptation of the digitized 3D shape of the customer'foot to the shape of the last from a database of lasts, which, forprinciple-related reasons, does not sufficiently represent the innershoe, is no longer required.

According to the prior art, the last which, for physical and productionengineering reasons, is shaped differently from the shoe interior as amatter of principle, leads to the fact that an automatic best fitselection of footwear by an adaptation of the scanned foot to a libraryof lasts will, in principle, remain unsatisfactory. On account of theproduction requirements, a last has a shape that distinctly differs fromthat of the anatomical foot:

in comparison with a foot, it has a markedly narrower shape becauseautomatic machines are used for sewing the leather in a tensioned andstretched condition when pulled over the last;

the last has a folding mechanism and an especially narrow shape wherethe leg starts because the last needs to be removed from the shoe aftersewing thereof has been completed.

The adaptation as commonly used today of a scanned foot to a last shapeis therefore considerably more unfavorable than the adaptation of ascanned foot to a shoe interior. A foot and a shoe interior constitutecongruent 3D shapes, whereas the three-dimensional shapes of a foot anda last are, in principle, considerably less consistent with each other.

In spite of this progress based on the adaptation of a foot to a shoeinterior for a best fit selection of a series-produced shoe for acustomer's foot, the problems related to the non-adapted footbedcontinue to exist in connection with this novel concept as well. Unlikein the current prior art, a satisfactory and cost-effective best fit offootwear should not be limited to the three-dimensional shape of theupper part of the shoe, but should also comprise an individual,cost-effective, i.e. largely automated individual customization or bestfit selection of the footbed, for example in the form of an insole whichis adapted to both the anatomy of the individual foot sole of thecustomer and the load zones of the foot sole and also to the geometricinterior of the selected best fit footwear.

There is, therefore, a great economic and technical interest in acost-effective best-fit solution for footwear, in which, with the aid ofthe combined numerical model made up of the three-dimensional shape ofthe foot and the plantar pressure image, a best-fit selection of thefootwear matching the foot of the customer is performed from a databaseof shoe interior models and in which, at the same time, with the aid ofthe digitized interior shape of the selected item of footwear and theplantar pressure image as measured and registered with the foot model,an insole or footbed adapted to both the individual anatomy of the footand the specific interior of the selected series-produced footwear canbe generated largely automatically or selected from a database ofdigitized insoles.

This is carried out according to the invention by the teachings of themethod and arrangement claims of the present application for propertyrights. The following figures are used herein for illustrating theconcept of the invention more clearly:

FIG. 1 shows, in a black-and-white diagram to illustrate the prior artand the geometric conditions, the 3D foot model -11-, obtained with theaid of a photogrammetric multisensory scanner, of a customer in an itemof footwear -13-, the foot sole -12- resting on an insole -14-constituting the footbed.

FIG. 2 shows, in a plantar view from obliquely below, the 3D wire framemodel of a foot -11- scanned using a multisensory foot scanner and,superimposed in this identical model, the local plantar pressure image-21- which has been prepared using a plantar pressure image sensorincorporated in the scanner. For reasons relating to the printingprocess, the plantar pressures -21-, which are color-coded in theoriginal, are shown as black zones here.

This simplified drawing therefore only reproduces the places of thegreatest foot pressures, but not the pressure amplitudes that were alsomeasured.

FIG. 3 shows, in a graphical representation, a view of a heel from whichthe position of the foot sole -12- of the customer's foot -11- withinthe shoe interior -13- is visible, and the insole -14- which is drawnusing a vertical hatching and which has to adapt to the non-flat footsole -12- both on the sides and from below and also to the non-flatfootbed -31- in the lower part of the inner shoe. The shoe sole -32-with its tread is shown in black.

FIG. 4 shows the production of the desired insole -14- which adjusts tothe foot sole, to the two inner side walls of the footwear, and also tothe footbed, which oftentimes is not flat, of the best-fitseries-produced shoe and which is therefore produced from aprefabricated block using, for example, two numerical XYZ millingcutters -41- and -42-.

FIG. 5 shows the step-by-step sequence in the implementation of theconcept of the invention, from scanning the foot of the customerinclusive of obtaining a registered plantar pressure image, the best fitselection of a fitting shoe by a comparison with a database of 3D innershoe models, the classical derivation of the insole from the pressureimage, with the adjustment or fitting into the shoe having not yet beenrealized, the numerical milling-out, from a blank, of the insole fittedinto the shoe interior, the milling data record being calculated as adifferential 3D surface model of the 3D foot model fitted into the bestfit inner shoe model in relation to the inner shoe model.

The concept of the invention will now be explained, by way of example,based on the best fit selection of a shoe with an individualizedfootbed, this explanation being confined to one individual shoe forreasons of clarity. In any case, the concept of the invention inherentlyallows the selection of two different shoes and different fitted-ininsoles for a customer and in this way takes into account the anatomicalasymmetries which are often encountered between the left foot and theright foot of a customer.

As shown in FIG. 1, the purpose of the concept of the invention residesin the cost-effective, largely automated, best fit selection of an itemof footwear -13- from an existing series production, this item offootwear optimally enclosing the foot -11- from an anatomical, aestheticand functional point of view, and the footbed -14- being individuallyadjusted to the foot sole anatomy -12- of the customer and adjusted toand fitted into the selected item of footwear.

To this end, according to the invention, in a first step the customer'sfoot is scanned as shown in FIG. 2, using a preferably multisensory 3Dscanner having an integrated pressure measuring plate, and a numerical3D model of the foot shape -11- of the customer is established, in whichthe plantar pressure image -21- determined by means of the pressuremeasuring plate integrated in the scanner is correctly aligned andintegrated so as to be registered. We refer to this integrated numericalmodel as a “multisensory” 3D model, which numerically describes the twoconnected information contents, “geometric three-dimensional foot shape”and “plantar pressure image”.

As a result, according to the invention, one single integrated numericalmodel is available, rather than, as is usually the case today, twoseparate models: one geometric 3D model determined using a 3D scannerand a second, two-dimensional plantar pressure image determined using anexternal pressure measuring plate. This separate determination accordingto the current prior art has the big disadvantage that the two items ofinformation, “three-dimensional foot shape” and “plantar pressureimage”, are not registered, i.e. are not put into a spatial relation toeach other.

But the concept of the invention is not limited to this advantageousmultisensory foot digitization, but also comprises a separate recordingof the 3D model of the foot using a scanner and of the plantar pressureimage using a separate plantar sensor. A person skilled in the art knowsa variety of manual methods for registering these two data records. Forexample, the foot sole contour from the 3D model of the foot can beprinted out on a film or sheet and placed onto the pressure sensor suchthat the XY coordinate axes of the 3D scanner and those of the plantarpressure sensor coincide.

FIG. 3 shows, from a view of the heel, the spatial relationships of theshoe interior -13-, the foot -11- of the customer, the foot sole -12-resting on an insole -14- which is drawn hatched, and the critical leftand right peripheral zones, in which the insole has to adjust or fitsnugly to the foot interior. It is furthermore apparent from thisdiagram that the footbed of a series-produced shoe, which is locatedabove the shoe sole, features a standard sole as produced by themanufacturer, which is not necessarily planar and to which theindividual insole -14- to be produced likewise has to snugly adjust.

The selection or production of an individualized insole in aseries-produced shoe selected according to a best-fit process thereforerequires a procedure which is automated, if possible, for acost-effective production of an insole which, as clearly shown in FIG.4, is usually given a complex shape:

the upper surface of the insole needs to assume a shape which is derivedfrom the plantar pressure image in accordance with the rules which areknown to a person skilled in orthopedics or incorporated in insolemanufacturing programs;

the lower surface of the insole needs to adapt to the existing footbedof the series-produced shoe selected;

the lateral edges of the insole need to fit into the free space betweenthe foot and the inner wall of the shoe in the lower portion of theshoe;

the insole needs to adapt to the shoe interior and the foot such that itdoes not curtail the free space needed for the foot.

It is common practice today to manually select insoles from a largenumber of different series-manufactured insoles or else to mill insolesfrom the top on one side in a numerically controlled manner with the aidof prefabricated blanks; according to the current prior art, the data ofthe shoe interior is not made use of here since, to date, shoe interiorscanners have not been available. Therefore, it is currently necessaryto fit the selected or, respectively, milled insole into the customer'sshoe in a purely manual fashion, by an orthopedic specialist, shoetechnician, salesperson etc. using a knife, grinder or similar tools fortrimming the peripheral zone such as to make it fit into the shoe. Asidefrom the fact that this process is time-consuming, inaccurate, andundocumented, the insole produced in this way is still not yetanatomically defined in terms of its height, i.e. it is not made surethat once the insole is inserted, the free space in the shoe interior issuitable for good wearing comfort.

It is therefore an essential element of the concept of the inventionthat by the best-fit selection according to the invention of a fittingseries-produced shoe, on the basis of the adaptation of the 3D footmodel and the 3D shoe interior (which has been digitized using, forexample, the above-mentioned scanner according to the teaching of DE2007 032 609 A2), at the same time the space coordinates can bedetermined which describe the space, taken up by the insole, between theinner wall of the shoe, the foot sole and the footbed of the shoe, asshown in FIG. 4, and that these space coordinates are used for producingan individualized insole that matches both the foot and the shoe.

According to the invention, the individualized insole is produced bymeans of numerically controlled, chip-removing, applying or thermallydeforming automatic insole production machines by controlling thetraveling axes of these automatic machines using the space coordinatesof the three-dimensional surface of the space to be occupied by theinsole -14-. In the following, we will refer to this complexly shapedspace as the “insole space”, i.e. that portion of the space in theinterior of a shoe in the put-on condition which is to be filled by theinsole or the footbed.

For the simpler and more cost-effective process of identifying abest-fit item of footwear and a best-fit insole, making use of the spacecoordinates of the three-dimensional surface of the space that is to betaken up by the insole, the “insole space”, according to the inventionthat insole which best fits into this insole space is determined from adatabase of digitized insoles.

According to the invention, the best-fit selection of an insole from adatabase of series-produced lasts is carried out on the basis ofdimension specifications which describe the insole space.

The method according to the invention for a cost-effective production ofa best-fit item of footwear with a customized footbed/insole is summedup in FIG. 5 in the form of a flow chart:

Step 1: the foot of the customer is scanned and digitized by means of apreferably multisensory foot scanner which establishes a numerical modelof the three-dimensional shape of the foot and, at the same time, aplantar pressure image registered therewith;

Step 2: the best-fitting shoe is determined by comparing the geometric3D model of the foot with a database of the digitized interior spaces ofshoes to choose from;

Step 3: using known methods of insole production, the surface model ofthe insole is computed from the plantar pressure image fullyautomatically or in a computer-assisted manner for the region of thecontact surface foot sole < > insole. This so-called “classical” insolemodel is neither defined on the lower side nor in its height nor in theperipheral zone.

Step 4: the space coordinates for the peripheral zone and the lower sideof an insole fitting into the inner shoe are determined from theintersection of the space coordinates of the 3D model of the best-fitinner shoe, of the 3D model of the customer's foot, and of the“classical” 3D model, defined on one side, of the insole, the 3D modelof the “classical” insole is supplemented by these coordinates to formthe “insole space” and is finished in a customized manner by anumerically controlled automatic processing machine, or a fitting insoleis selected accordingly by a best-fit comparison of the insole spacewith a database of the three-dimensional shapes of prefabricatedseries-produces lasts;

Step 5: the insole is fixed in place in the best-fit shoe and thebest-fit shoe with the insole is handed over to the customer.

The concept of the invention is not limited to a particular type offootwear, but comprises dress shoes and casual shoes, sports shoes,safety shoes and orthopedic footwear of any kind.

The concept of the invention describes a method and an arrangement whichallow a best fit method that is as highly automated as possible, for theselection of footwear with an individualized footbed at low cost. Butthe concept of the invention permits various degrees of automation ornon-automation, such as, for example:

the decision by the sales staff or the customer himself/herself in favorof a particular best fit footwear from the n>1 potentially best-fittingitems of footwear indicated by the database;

the production of the “classical” 3D model of the insole can beinteractively influenced by a specialist on the basis of his/herexperience and with the aid of additional information such as the bodyweight, age, purpose of the footwear (casual shoe, sports shoe,orthopedic shoe, etc.), the materials used (leather, textile, syntheticmaterial, etc.).

What is decisive for the concept of the invention is the multi-stepmethod which proceeds from the digitized foot, the plantar pressureimage, and a database of digitized shoe interiors and delivers to thecustomer a best fit footwear with an individualized insole that isfitted into the available shoe interior and defined by way of the“insole space” with the aid of the numerically available data and, wheredesired, interactively influenced parameters and criteria.

In addition to the reduction in cost by the automation, to a largeextent, of the process of supplying well-fitting footwear separately foreach customer in spite of shoes that are mass-produced at low cost, themethod according to the invention also allows the ever increasing lackof technical knowledge of the sales staff to be counteracted.

According to the invention, the numerical 3D models of the foot, of theshoe interior, and of the insole space are visualized on a data displayunit in the salesroom and display to the customer and to the sales staffthe position and fit of the foot and the insole in relation to theselected shoe, as in a complicated CAT scan.

This considerably facilitates the decision that, in the final analysis,remains to be taken by the customer in favor of a particular shoe modeland a particular insole on the basis of the anatomical, easilycomprehensible 3D visualization of the foot fitted into the shoe withthe insole.

According to the invention, the best fit selection of the footwear aswell as the individual preparation of the insole or the best fitselection thereof are performed separately for each foot, so that anyasymmetries and anatomical differences between the feet of a customerare taken into account.

According to the invention, the visualized data is collected by the shoetrade and transmitted to the shoe manufacturers, for the latter tosupply the trade with a range of series-produced shoes and insoles thatare specially optimized with a view to its customers, and for storagecosts to be optimized in this way.

According to the invention, the feet of the customer are re-digitized atgreater time intervals (three-dimensional shape and plantar pressureimage), and the customer is informed of whether the footwear, based onits 3D shape, is still anatomically fitting.

The concept of the invention also comprises the situation in which awell-fitting insole is customized or selected as a best fit insolesubsequently for a shoe that has already been worn. In this case, step 2(access to a database of available footwear interiors) is replaced bythe digitization of the interior of the already worn footwear for whichan insole is desired. The other steps remain unchanged.

According to the invention, steps 3 and 4 may be combined in that,following the determination of the 3D insole space and taking intoconsideration the compressibility and flexibility of the insole blank,the 3D shape of the insole to be produced or to be selected in a bestfit process is individualized (customized insole) or is selected from adatabase as a best fit insole.

A further concept of the invention is to transact the entire businessprocess via the Internet in that the feet of the customer are digitizedonce only with the aid of a preferably multisensory foot scanner, andthis person-related data is stored in a central database or is handedover to the customer on a digital storage medium, and that the processfor ordering a new item of best fit footwear with an individualizedcustomized or best fit insole is carried out via a computer terminal.

By way of summary and in simplified terms, the concept of the inventiondescribes novel methods and arrangements which proceed in a largelyautomated manner and which, with the aid of the combination of the “3Dfoot scanner”, “3D shoe interior scanner” and “foot sole scanner”technologies (optical image of the sole and/or plantar pressure image),calculate from the 3D and 2D data provided by these scanners thecomplexly shaped insole space to be taken up by a fitting insole in theinterior of the footwear which is put on, and which by means ofnumerical processing methods, produce the insole or footbed that matchesboth the foot and the footwear either individually from a blank orselect it as a best fit insole from a collection of prefabricatedinsoles.

1. A method of equipping footwear with a footbed customized to a foot ofa person, comprising the following steps: a) acquiring a numerical modelof the three-dimensional shape of the foot by means of a foot scanner;b) preparing a plantar pressure image of the foot by means of a pressuresensor plate on which the person stands; c) registering the plantarpressure image with the numerical model of the three-dimensional shapeof the foot; d) obtaining, or acquiring by means of an interior scanner,a numerical model of the interior shape of the footwear; e) calculating,from the plantar pressure image, a surface model of an insole for thesurface contacting the foot sole; f) establishing, from the intersectionof the three-dimensional surfaces of the interior shape of the footwearand the surface model of the insole, the space coordinates for theperipheral zone and the lower side of the insole, taking intoconsideration the three-dimensional shape of the foot, and determiningtherefrom the three-dimensional shape of an insole fitting into thefootwear; g) obtaining or customizing the insole defined by thethree-dimensional shape determined, and inserting it into the footwear.2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a fitting footwear isselected on the basis of the numerical model of the three-dimensionalshape of the foot and numerical models of the interior shapes ofavailable items of footwear.
 3. The method according to claim 1, whereina selected or existing item of footwear is used.
 4. The method accordingto any of the preceding claims, wherein the insole is selected bycomparing its three-dimensional shape with data records of a database ofavailable prefabricated insoles.
 5. The method according to any of thepreceding claims, which is carried out separately for each foot of theperson.
 6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, whereinthe numerical model acquired of the three-dimensional shape of the footand/or the plantar pressure image prepared of the foot are documented.7. The method according to claims 2 and 6, wherein the selection of thefitting footwear is effected online over the Internet based on thedocumented numerical model of the three-dimensional shape of the foot.8. The method according to claims 4 and 6, wherein the selection of theprefabricated insole is effected online over the Internet based on thedocumented numerical model of the three-dimensional shape of the footand based on the documented plantar pressure image.
 9. The methodaccording to any of the preceding claims, wherein the numerical modelacquired of the three-dimensional shape of the foot is superimposed onmodels of the interior shape of potentially fitting items of footwearand is visually displayed.
 10. An arrangement for carrying out themethod according to any of the preceding claims, comprising an opticallyoperating 3D foot scanner; a pressure sensor plate which includes asurface for a person to stand on during operation of the 3D footscanner; a computing unit for processing the data supplied by the twoscanners with a program that calculates a surface model of an insolefrom the data and calculates the three-dimensional shape of a customizedinsole from the surface model of the insole, from the numerical modelsupplied by the foot scanner of the three-dimensional shape of a scannedfoot, and from numerical models of the interior shape of potentiallyfitting items of footwear.